"Don't worry so
much," Zexion smiled, looking at the guest he had invited into his
dorm, dozing away obliviously. "What's the harm in offering a bit
of hospitality to a fellow student?"

"I wish you would at
least ask me first."

"Oh, come now,"
Zexion chided, "it's not as if you were going to say no." His
roommate looked further displeased when he realized that Zexion was,
indeed, correct. He wouldn't have refused his request. But still,
that didn't mean that the magical prodigy could do as he pleased.
The two of them were equals, after all.

"You're losing
sight of your mission," he snorted.

"Oh, no," replied
Zexion, back turned to his roommate. "I haven't forgotten it at
all. Something big will be happening soon, and he's going to be all
caught up in it."

The other boy narrowed
his eyes, clearly annoyed. Zexion was being difficult on purpose, the
wretched little thing. However, at the same time, he was rather
pleased that Zexion seemed to be enjoying something. While Zexion was
publicly smiling and polite, in private, the student was bored out of
his mind and eagerly waiting for something exciting to happen.

And by "something
exciting," he didn't mean that trivial gossip that's been
flying around.

Still, Zexion seemed
to be growing an ego of sorts lately and frankly, it was surprising
that it was taking this long to develop since the shorter student had
much to brag about. It was up to his roommate to keep it in check.
"Are you a prophet now?" He challenged, raising an eyebrow and
crossing his arms in contempt.

An amused smile
crossed Zexion's face and he let out a light chuckle. "You know
it as well as I. Go to sleep, Lexaeus, everything will look brighter
in the morning."

October 23rd
0700 hours

Click.

The sound did not
escape Marluxia's ears. It was the sound of the doorknob, or more
specifically, the sound a doorknob makes when it's locked and
somebody tries to open it. A quick logical check told him who it was.
Despite being a complete jerk and the living embodiment of the word
"frustration," it wasn't Axel. He at least had the courtesy to
knock before barging in. Nobody else ever came to visit, so it must
have been…

Immediately, he got
up, undid the latch, and yanked the door open. Standing there, with a
blank look on his face and a key in his hand, was his roommate.

"Do you know I
almost called to report you missing?" growled the older male.
"Where have you been?"

It was a simple
question, and under any other circumstance, Demyx would have been
able to answer it easily. Under the cold, unforgiving, and seemingly
unblinking gaze of Marluxia's, it was a different story altogether.

"Never mind,"
Marluxia continued. "It's not that important. You do know classes
start in an hour, right? You better get ready now."

October 23rd
1913 hours

It was like watching
children in a candy store.

Riku stifled a yawn as
he hovered near the entrance of the local bookstore. Despite the fact
that Garden had a library where students could check out books for
free, it was filled entirely with informative books that students
used to complete assignments. Thus, if anyone wanted a good fiction
or a magazine to read, the bookstore was the place to go. It was a
local hangout of theirs for would always visit it once a week. But
this time, they brought the newest addition to their little group,
Roxas, along. The two boys were hovering over the Triple Triad stand,
with Sora jabbering along to a confused Roxas who seemed to be doing
his best to keep up. Kairi stood a few feet away, examining the
bookshelves for something to read between library shifts.

Faintly, he could hear
Sora asking Kairi if she'd buy some cards for him, promising to pay
her back later. Because she was a staff member at Garden, Kairi
received a discount on anything she bought from the bookstore.
Students also received discounts, but a staff member received a
bigger discount.

Kairi calmly,
politely, in her "big sister voice," told him to kindly pay for
his own purchases.

Their cards and books
bought, the four friends headed towards the Rising Falls, wanting to
spend the rest of their Wednesday evening sharing stories under the
night sky. As the first of the stars began to show themselves, the
four of them relaxed on their backs, gazes fixed on the heavens above
them.

"Roxas, tell us more
about Twilight Town," Sora said.

Before the other boy
could reply, Kairi interrupted.

"Sora, you ask too
many questions," she giggled. "We know a lot about Roxas, but he
hasn't had the chance to get to know more about us. Come on, Roxas,
ask a question."

Roxas took a moment to
think. He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask. There was a lot about
Sora, Riku, and Kairi that he didn't know.

"What are your
families like?" He finally asked.

"I have a sister,"
Kairi answered. "You might have seen her, her name is Naminé,
the blonde girl in the library."

"Are you twins?"
Roxas prompted.

There was a short
pause as Kairi smiled. "No, we're not twins. She was adopted into
the family when we were about four years old. She's still my
sister, though, even though we're technically not related."

Because he had never
known anyone who was adopted, or had adopted siblings, all Roxas
could manage upon learning this new information was a very blank
sounding, "oh," feeling very embarrassed for sounding so stupid.
Kairi smiled again and told him not to worry. Most people had that
reaction when they learned about her family.

"I'm an only
child," Sora said once Kairi had finished talking. "Um…I don't
have anything cool about my family like having an adopted brother or
sister…er…my mom makes great spaghetti?" He had hoped Roxas
would have some sort of question for him like, "what kind of
spaghetti?" or "does she make good lasagna too?" but was
instead met with silence. Sometimes, Sora wished he had a more
exciting family.

The silence lingered
for a few minutes. Roxas had expected Riku to begin describing his
own kin, but the older boy looked distracted, staring at the rushing
water for a few minutes. Before anyone could ask if he had been
paying any attention at all to the conversation, Riku began to speak.

"My mother died when
ten years ago, when I was six," he began. "She fell severely ill
one day and never fully recovered. She was weak…and even the
slightest cold would put us on edge. I brought her gardenia flowers
every day…they were her favorite. She always said she liked their
smell."

Roxas was afraid to
press further. So Riku did it for him.

"She died one day,
while I was at school. I remember it clearly…after that…it was
just me and my father. He did his best to take care of me."

At that moment, Roxas
felt conflicted. He realized he was very fortunate to have both his
mother and father, both of whom loved him very much, although they
were a bit apprehensive about his decision to go study at Garden.
However, at the same time, he also felt sympathetic towards Riku and
his loss, unsure of how he himself could deal with the loss of
someone he cared deeply about. It sounded like Riku's mother was of
the utmost importance in his life.

Riku seemed to sense
Roxas' discomfort and offered the offered the blonde a smile.

"You don't have to
feel bad for me," he said. "I'm fine. In fact, that's why I'm
here, in Garden, so that I can make myself useful by protecting
people who can't defend themselves. I know my mother would have
been proud of me."

It was a noble reason,
one that many Garden students shared as their motivation of taking on
the Garden curriculum. Yet, others chose the path for their own
reasons. Roxas himself decided to attend Garden because he thought it
was the right choice for him, and the Keyblade he held apparently
agreed with that choice.

"That's enough
about that," Riku said after a moment. "Let's not talk about
depressing things. Care to show me the cards you two bought?"

October 26th
1040 hours

"Hey there, Fire
Starter, what's wrong?"

When she didn't get
an answer, Larxene frowned. Her prey was not taking her bait. That
was no fun. Axel was usually ready to exchange insults with her. It
helped her keep her tongue sharp. Well, she wanted to have a verbal
fight, and to get it; all she would have to do is prod a little
harder.

"You? Thinking? In
class, no less?" Larxene let out a fake gasp of surprise and for
dramatic effect, placed a hand to her forehead and pretend like she
was going to faint from the shock. As soon as she was done, she
instantly placed both elbows on the desk and rested her chin in her
hands. "What about?"

The reply was calm and
frank. "None of your business."

"So, it isn't
about school work, then?" she mused. Axel thought he could hear the
little gears in her brain turning. Crafty girl.

"If you really must
know, I'm planning my next move."

"On Flower Boy, you
mean? You're really serious about him, then?" It was just like
Larxene to fill in the gaps of a conversation with whatever was going
on in that head of hers. At this point, any biting edge in her voice
was put at bay, and she sounded like she was genuinely interested in
what he had to say. Probably so she could spread it later as gossip.
Axel had learned very quickly to be wary when Larxene's voice loses
its usual scathing tone.

Axel snorted and
dismissed her statement with a casual wave of his hand. He thought to
wave some flames in her face, but that wouldn't do him any good.
"No, it's part of my plan to make him less of a humorless
workaholic."

"Why's it matter
so much to you?" Larxene asked, bemused. "If he wants to work
himself to death, let him. Give it a thought, Fire Starter, maybe
there's more to this little stunt you're pulling than you think."
And with that, she got up in search for someone who would actually
respond to her taunts, leaving Axel to ponder her words.

Why did it matter so
much to him? The answer was obvious, wasn't it? Axel wanted to get
his fellow student to loosen up and enjoy life for once. Or at the
very least, get more sleep. Marluxia didn't exactly look his best
lately, and everyone around him noticed. His patience thinned each
day and often looked visibly exhausted, yet he still somehow managed
to stay alert and ready.

He would make an
excellent DRIVE member, Axel had figured. He'd go far, but not if
he so blatantly ignored his own health like that.

Sometimes it was okay
to just goof off. Axel would even claim it was healthy. After all,
it's done wonders for him. Perhaps he did overdo it, teetering on
the edge of failing his classes, but it was his style. He'd pull
through in the end. Always had, always will.

What others saw as an
attempt to annoy and corrupt his tutor, Axel saw as an earnest
attempt to help his friend. Not that the annoying and the corrupting
weren't a fun bonus along the way, of course.

At least, that's
what Axel thought.

Give it a thought,
Fire Starter, maybe there's more to this little stunt you're
pulling than you think.

As if. What did
Larxene know about anything besides making the lives of others
miserable, anyways?

Still, her words rang
through his mind like a cryptic message. That just wasn't right.

November 2nd
0715 hours

Dear Hayner, Pence,
and Olette,

How are you guys?
It's been almost two weeks since I started classes in Garden.
Things have been pretty good. The teachers, overall, are pretty nice
and helpful.

I suppose you've
all been wondering what the people here are like. They're mostly
regular people like us. They like a lot of the same things we do, and
it's fun to meet people from other worlds. Everyone's so unique,
but in the end, we're all here at Radiant Garden, studying under
the same teachers, working for the same goal. We'll all be
teammates someday. It's like we're all so different, we've
become a group all of our own.

I've made a few
friends since arriving and they're all great. You guys should meet
them sometime. If you come to visit during a weekend or something,
I'd love to introduce them to you.

So how's
everything in Twilight Town? Are Seifer and his gang causing trouble
again? Did you guys go to the beach? Did Setzer win the Struggle
tournament like he always does? Anything really exciting happen? Did
you finish your homework?

You can tell I
really miss home, can't you? But don't worry about me; I'm
actually really happy here. Garden was everything I ever dreamed
about and more. It's literately a dream come true, and I would've
missed it all if it weren't for you three.

Thanks for shunning
me until I came to my senses. You guys are the best.

Hope to hear from
you soon,

Roxas

"You said it's
bound for Twilight Town, kupo?" the Moogle courier asked. Upon
conformation, the small creature nodded. "Right, everything's in
order, kupo. We'll have it delivered to Twilight Town by Monday.
From there, the local post service will take care of it. I would
guess it would reach the recipient by Tuesday."

A/N:
No footnotes, wow…um…other than that, forgive me, please.

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